Sprint Turns to a Spokes-Hamster

The wireless carrier unveiled a new marketing campaign Monday that closely resembles the one its parent company, SoftBank, has used in Japan. The quirky and effective SoftBank campaign featured a talking dog as the patriarch of an unusual Japanese family with a black son and a maid played by actor Tommy Lee Jones. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son helped come up with the white dog commercials and has a reputation for diving deeply into the details.

Sprint’s new ads feature a similarly eclectic family, but this one is headed by a hamster. The daughter speaks only French, and one of his sons has a Southern drawl. Another son is Saturday Night Live cast member Kyle Mooney.